The North Harrison Community School Corporation is nearing the time the new wing at Morgan Elementary School in Central Barren starts the construction phase, the North Harrison Board of School Trustees learned Thursday night.
The board received detailed plans from the architectural firm of Kovert-Hawkins, of Jeffersonville, Indiana. The plans include site details, elevation designs, and floor plans. The floor plans are detailed enough to show the layout of a specific classroom where all utilities and cabinet work are located.
As of the meeting Thursday night, the board learned the broad schedule of construction for the project.
Wing A (the new wing of classrooms being added on the east side of the 1975 wing) will see construction begin in June 2009 and it is due for completion in March 2010. The demolition of the old win near the gym will be accomplished in two phases immediately after the construction of Wing A. The old cafeteria and the classrooms on the front side of this wing will be demolished first. Cafeteria services will have to be provided somehow during the period that the present cafeteria will be gone. Details on this are yet to be determined. After a new cafeteria area is constructed and operational around December 2010, the back part of the 1950’s wing will then be demolished. After that, music, art, and other specialized rooms will be added there.
Wing A will be made of concrete blocks, on the exterior walls as well as the walls which form the interior hallway; the walls between the rooms will be made of steel studs and drywall. The walls between the rooms will go to the roof deck, and will have soundproofing installed when they are constructed, according to architect Hal Kovert.
The cost of the project, not including the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC), is expected to be $10,250,000.
The final cost will be determined by the bids the corporation receives on the project, plus any unforeseen expenses that might arise during construction.
As for the plans for the Morgan renovation, several small alterations were made, and explained to the board.
The existing wing from 1975 will be rehabbed with new ceilings, lights, doors, and floor coverings to make it tie in with the new wings being built.
Since a new kitchen director at Morgan was hired at the meeting for the 2009-10 school year, the kitchen area has not been decided on yet, with regards to the final design..
In various areas of the building, extra storage rooms and extra tutor rooms have been added.
“That’s been proven to be successful at Morgan,” Kovert said of the tutoring program at Morgan.
The board also approved the interior design materials in the school. This includes floor and wall coverings. Some lime green was present in the new administration offices. This brought a negative reaction from board member Jerry Renneker.
“Only in the school board wing of the building, Sir,” quipped Morgan Elementary School principal Lance Richards.
The type of boilers used at Morgan for heating the building will be determined at a special public meeting on Thursday, March 19, 2009. The possibility of electric, propane, or fuel oil boilers has been discussed, with propane being more efficient with regards to the heat gained for the amount of fuel used.
The possibility of moving the electric boilers now at North Harrison Elementary to Morgan Elementary, and installing natural gas boilers at North Harrison Elementary was discussed, but a final decision was not made.
The board also approved the school calendar for the 2009-10 school year. The first semester will have 89 days, and the second semester will have 91 days. Several make up days for snow are in the calendar that passed.
The biggest change was in the length of the grading periods. The six weeks grading periods will now be nine weeks in length.
“They (the students) have more time to make up their grades if their deficient in a certain area,” said interim Supt. Randy Barrett of the switch to nine weeks grading periods.
Barrett has been a superintendent before, in the Eastern Greene system. He formerly taught in the classroom at Salem, and was a curriculum director there.
“I know a little bit about North Harrison, because I spent 18 years in the classroom at Salem,” he explained.
In other business, the board:

- Declared a kiln formerly used by the high school art department as surplus property.
- Accepted the resignation of Gwen Jacobi as a part time cafeteria worker at the high school, effective January 15, 2009.
- Appointed Becky Davis as Cafeteria Manager at Morgan effective with the 2009-10 school year.
- Approved H&S Lawn Care as the grass cutter at North Harrison during the summer. They bid $615.00.
- Approved JB Lawn Care as the grass cutter at Morgan elementary during the summer. They bid $144.91.